Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Lenten Reflections: Dredging


"....many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” - Matthew 26:60-61


"We've got to find some dirt on this guy!"  

"What kind of skeletons does he have hiding in his closet?"

Imagine how deep those witnesses had to dig in order to dredge up dirt on Jesus. How many people did they talk to? How many stories did they listen to in order to twist the words to fit their narrow minded agenda? And in the end, they didn't do a very good job when you think about it. A simple quote spoken years before, taken completely out of context and made to be "truth". The spiritual made literal.

"Do you think they'll believe it?"

"Are you kidding me? Those followers of his will believe anything we tell them. They're stupid, moronic and uneducated slobs! Filthy sheep!"

But.... "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."

"Who said that?"

Maybe later, Jesus. But for now, your stupid sheep are going to reject you, spit in your face, stab you in the back and twist the knife as many times as possible.  

Truth flies out of the window when you're looking to falsely accuse someone. The only thing that matters is convincing everyone else that your story is "true". Truth becomes relative. We believe what we hear, not what we know. Groupthink. Crucify! Crucify!

What is truth?

We love to dredge up the past in order to wound others, don't we? It's one of our best defenses. Hurt others before we get hurt. DEFENSE!

Forgive and forget?

Stab and twist. 

What's in your closet? 

"You know, that pervert has a porn addiction, right?"

"She used to smoke pot with me back in the day! She's in church? Freaking hypocrite!"

"Married with two kids? And he's sleeping with another guy? Faggot sodomite!" 

"He's divorced, but they're letting him pastor this church? Let's get him out of here!"

"Was she drinking a beer? She is so busted!"

"I'm not saying anything, but I saw his financial statement and......" 
  
"That slut sleeps with anyone!  Now everyone is going to know!....Hmmm, wonder what my chances are?"

"He's different. He's looks different and dresses weird. He's a freak. Tried to kill himself. See the scars on his wrists?" 

And then we pride ourselves on cleansing the Kingdom of God of such filth.

"I'm only doing God's will. If it destroys her family, so be it! If he's fired, too bad! Screw him! He had it coming! Scum bag!" 

Are we any different? Jesus would have a tough time in 2016 America. He'd be screwed, and we'd make sure he got what's coming to him. We would just use a semi-automatic instead of the knife in his back. Lethal injection rather than a cross.  

Lord, we realize that we are no better than those that falsely accused You. We falsely accuse others all the time. And by our hypocrisy, we accuse ourselves and make ourselves liars. Help us Lord, to not bear false witness to you or anyone else in our lives. Teach us to forgive and truly forget. Amen